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As Speed Painters we have the privilege of performing for some of the most fun and exciting crowds – and most of our performances are just that: fun and exciting! Incredible singers belting it out while we paint, crowd clapping, cheering, singing along… incredible and, yes, fun!

But this blog is about a request and a performance that was different.

This request came to us steeped in… well, tragedy.
The voice on the other end of the phone was humble and heartfelt, can we convey a message to a convention audience… sentiment really, one that could help a large group of people heal and pay their respects? The story, although straight out of a newspaper headline (literally as it turned out) had a shattering impact on the company and it’s employees – two of their people, a pair of young women, were killed while on the job by an eighteen wheeler running a red light.
During their annual event they wanted to honor these two women, pay tribute to them, and – we realized later – give everyone a chance to say goodbye.

Could we paint their portraits, but do it to honor the solemnity of the occasion? “Not too slow though, they wouldn’t have liked that, but not over the top… there’s over 1,500 people going to be there… we need your help.”

Over the next few days certain decisions became obvious. First the music: no live singers, no “motivating” music, just a simple, beautiful ballad . Second, we would paint both portraits at once, one at each end of the stage, each painter staying solo with their 6′ x 6′ canvas. Lastly, we would keep it contained at 6 minutes.

On site Michael and I ended up waiting backstage over 4 hours. That’s a lot of butterflies. Michael joked about how he was sick before speed painting Michael Eisner (“He was the CEO of DISNEY at the time and there he was sitting a couple feet in front of the stage.”) but this was nervous in a different way… humbling. And suddenly they’re waving us on and it’s bright and quiet and I’m walking up to the familiar blank canvas. The smell of our paints. Image of a young woman in my head.
I realized only a dozen people knew what we were painting, what would the rest think? And then I was gone.

While we were painting we didn’t dance or jump, didn’t do any sort of theatrics, we simply painted. Just us, our brushes and our “subject matter”. For a few moments we held them – just as we strived to for the hours of studio rehearsal – a feature at a time, pouring our hearts into every stroke. With 1,500 people there, somehow, it was the most intimate performance we have ever done.

The music ended and their was silence. We turned. Funny how the noise of a crowd can sound different in different situations, it hit us as a rolling building thunder – part clapping, part cheering, part crying, not for us of course – partly for their company that took the risk in creating such a moment but mainly for the memory of their lost friends.
It was truly a beautiful, and humbling experience.

I hope they would agree.

Author Jeff Smith

Michael Ostaski and Jeff Smith are Speed Painters with the act The 3 Painters

Last week, we mentioned Jimi Hendrix’s face lighting up on a dark stage – did you catch that? We were hoping to pique your interest, to make you say, “How on earth would Jimi Hendrix’s face light up and not the rest of the stage?” Well, it’s been a trade secret for a decade. But brace yourselves, because I’m about to reveal the secret to you, here, and now: Fairy dust

Had you going there, huh? Actually, it’s painted with special paint that glows iridescently under blacklight (and yes this is when you should have flashbacks to those velvet blacklight posters of the 60’s).
That’s right, after seeing a celebrity icon speed painted – 7 feet tall – in the time it takes for a normal person to gather their brushes and paints, one would think that would be enough, but not for Speed Painter Michael Ostaski, or The 3 Painters: they get the urge to bring fast painting to the next level, a rotating screen, loud and powerful music, and a canvas that electrifies to neon life under the glow of ultraviolet light; all come together in yet another amazingly unique speed painting experience.

Check out some of the ways they’ve been making it happen with blacklight!

It’s time to announce the Paint Brothers – an organic and dynamic speed painting duo that will rock your world.

If you look back at some of the blogs on this site, you’ll see something in common with the entries: They bring news of originality and innovation in the speed painting world. You’d see a Mockingjay, painted in less than 6 minutes of real time, go up in flames. You’d see Jimi Hendrix’s face, again painted right before your eyes, light up in neon colors on the dark stage (which is probably how he saw himself most of the time). And you’d see a glue painting come together in seconds as Donna Summers’ face is revealed in an ocean of golden glitter.

Enter the Paint Brothers – bringing the innovation of cooperative fast painting. Some siblings finish each other’s sentences, but how many bros can say that they finish each other’s paintings? In this new act brought you to by Celebrity Enterprises, the boys sometimes do just that. Michael and Jeffrey go way back, and they interact with each other and each other’s work.

We think it’s time you checked out the most recent inventive spin on speed painting – The Paint Bothers!

Hold on to your hats, ladies and gentlemen. What I’m about to tell you is nothing short of a modern artistic innovation.

Glitter. It’s not just for arts and crafts any more.

Let me take a moment to explain. If you’re reading this blog, you know that it’s really the place to come for the latest updates and innovations in the fast painting world. For instance, when Michael Ostaski became the first speed painter to paint with flames, you saw the news right here. Now, it’s time to bring you the next big thing – speed glitter painting.

Behind the scenes, it’s actually quite interesting. There’s a ton of planning involved – buying the right glitter to use is the first, essential step to creating a spectacular sparkling portrait. If the glitter is too big, it doesn’t form the picture correctly. If you don’t get the right color, you are simply asking for trouble (one must think before creating John Lennon in mustard yellow sparkles!).

What else might surprise you is the amount of sheer skill that’s involved. When speed painting with regular, visible paint, you always have what you just painted as a frame of reference. When painting with clear glue, the artist must trust his painter’s hands and fly blind (or, more appropriately, paint blind). Without the talent, you could be thinking that you’re painting a portrait of the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., but when you glitterize it, you’ve actually painted something resembling a play-doh sculpture that got stepped on by accident.

What makes the glitter painting so outstanding is the wow factor it inevitably provides. Imagine a picture taking shape immediately and completely all at once! It’s the perfect way to end a show in front of thousands or a Saturday night. But don’t take my word for it; take a look at the video!